"Cheney Skis In Jeans"

I laughed for about twenty minutes after I read this bumper sticker.  I proceeded to text it and call friends exclaiming.  I just couldn't get enough of this today.  Cheney skis in jeans.  So perfect.  Most people will probably wonder why I find this so wonderfully funny.  It just is.

So back on November 6th, when we were locked in a snowless Indian Summer, I went to visit my good friend Dr. Cynthia Kelly at the Colorado Limb Consultants down in Denver.  The purpose for the visit was to get another round of X-rays (I'm sure I glow by now.), see how the bone graft in my hip is doing, and check-up on the femoral neck fracture. 

After nearly two full years, I got the clearance to go ski!  Problem...  No Snow.

Well thanks to the snow gods, snow returned to Colorado this weekend.  Heavily.  

And thanks to Dr. Kelly and her team, I ripped this blessing most dutifully.

Here's a couple videos...  Not too shabby for missing nearly two full seasons on snow?

Now I must mention that getting to Wolf Creek Pass for this serious dump was no small feat.  All day Friday it was snowing off and on here in Edwards.  The "Birds of Prey" World Cup Downhill was being held in Beaver Creek just minutes away.  Skiing was in the air.  I've been so into riding my mountain bike of late, that I wasn't really worried about skiing.  The snow has been so bad that getting excited to rip man made snow was far from my mind.  But as the weather turned cold and starting

 spitting snow, everyone was talking about a big dump.

I didn't really pay much mind to the talk until my boss Dave and I looked up the radar maps on www.noaa.gov  A gigantic cell had moved into Colorado and was pounding the rockies.  As we looked closer at the forecasts it became apparent that it was going to blast the San Juan's the hardest.

My friend Audrey and I decided spontaneously to jump in my truck and head south directly into the blizzard.  The idea of starting my season with soft, deep Wolf C

reek snow somehow made the 5-6 hour drive palatable.  "Feet.  Not inches.  Let's go!"

We made it, but it was a crazy drive requiring mental stamina and a certain amount of insanity.  We only spun off the road once on the way.  A nice 360+ across both icy lanes of the highway into the snow-filled ditch.  No harm, no foul... we were able to drive out in 4x4 LOW.  And the next hour I drove 25mph  white knuckled surfing snowy, slushy, icy roads to the base of Wolf Creek Pass.  I dropped the psi in my tires to 25 and crawled slowly to the ski area at the top of the pass.

In the center of the blizzard, we slept (more like waited with eyes closed) in the truck with our ski gear until the lifts starting turning.  28" of heavy snow had piled onto the mountain, making it skiable.  Finally.  

It snowed all day Saturday, all night Saturday and in the morning on Sunday it was back to bluebird and of course "A POWDER DAY!!!"  Skiers favorite words.  And so we skied. and skied. n skied.  

                   A total of 50" dropped on Wolf Creek from Friday

 morning to Sunday morning.